Weekly devotion: Sending out Compassionate Care

This week we pray for the Christian Medical Fellowship’s mobile clinics, which take healthcare and support to the remote villages of Upper Egypt. We also reflect on how Jesus might be ‘sending us out’ to help others.

Many of us take it for granted that a GP, hospital or pharmacy is not too far away. In rural parts of Egypt, however, finding healthcare could mean a journey of hundreds of miles – and transport options are limited. The cost of treatment is another barrier preventing disadvantaged people from getting the help they need.

To address these difficulties, our partners at the Christian Medical Fellowship operate a network of 16 mobile medical clinics taking healthcare directly to remote communities. Volunteer clinicians – including doctors, nurses and dentists – generously give their time to undertake these missions, and they travel in a vehicle stocked up with medicines and diagnostic equipment.

The mobile teams provide free consultations, tests, medication and dental care, helping people receive treatment that would otherwise be out of reach. They are also able to catch health problems before they become serious, enabling treatment to start and reducing the risk of long term complications.

As well as their clinical work, the teams offer practical advice on nutrition, hygiene, and disease prevention, so families can avoid future health problems. The 16 clinics serve around 2,400 people every year, helping not only individuals but whole communities to thrive.

Bible reading

Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and curing every disease and every sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into his harvest.’

Matthew 9:34-38

Thought

Jesus doesn’t remain in one place waiting for people to come to him. In this passage, we see him travelling through different communities, teaching and healing. When he encounters the crowds, he is moved with compassion because they don’t have anyone else to turn to. His response is not only to care for them himself, but also to call for more workers to join in the task.

Following Christ’s example, CMF’s mobile clinics go out to those who need them, bringing practical and compassionate care that people couldn’t otherwise access. A few skilled clinicians make a vast difference to thousands of lives in the villages of Upper Egypt. Likewise, each of us can find a way to put our faith into action using the gifts God has given us.

Ask yourself: If Jesus were to walk through your neighbourhood today, what needs do you think would move him with compassion?

Prayer

Lord Jesus,

Thank you for treating every person with compassion, especially those who feel they have nowhere to turn when in sickness and worry. We pray for every patient served by CMF’s mobile medical clinics in rural Egypt. Bless the work of the volunteer clinicians as they take practical help into these isolated communities, and may your love be known through theirs.

Open our hearts to the needs around us, and send us out in your service so that the few workers become many and all strive to do good in your name.

Amen